In Fight With Bezos, White House Calls Amazon Showing Tariff Costs a 'Hostile' Act

President Donald Trump and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos are feuding again.

The White House lashed out at Amazon on Tuesday for reportedly planning to display how much of a product’s cost comes from Trump’s tariffs. Doing so would emphasize to consumers that U.S. tariffs are not paid by overseas companies, but by the American companies importing the goods, and then largely passed on to customers.

“This is a hostile and political act by Amazon,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Tuesday at a briefing focused on the economy and Trump’s 100th day in office. She said she had just talked to Trump on the phone about Amazon’s plan, citing a report from Punchbowl News. “Why didn’t Amazon do this when the Biden administration hiked inflation to the highest level in 40 years?” Leavitt said. Amazon soon disputed the report, with a spokesperson telling The Washington Post on Tuesday that the company was not considering listing tariff costs across the main Amazon website, but that a team that runs a lower-cost section of the site called Amazon Haul had considered listing import charges on some products.

Bezos had clashed publicly with Trump for years. When Trump was running for president in 2016, he said Trump’s calls to “lock up” his political rival Hillary Clinton “erodes our democracy.” Trump has called him “Jeff Bozo.”

But Bezos extended an olive branch last summer after Trump was shot in the ear at a rally in Butler, Pa., writing on X that Trump had shown “tremendous grace and courage.” After the Bezos-owned Washington Post decided not to endorse a presidential candidate in 2024, Bezos defended the decision, saying presidential endorsements “create a perception of bias.” When Trump won a second term, Bezos praised Trump’s “extraordinary political comeback and decisive victory” and said at a New York Times event that he wanted to work with Trump to reduce regulation and was “actually very optimistic” about Trump’s return to office.

That outlook may have changed over the past 100 days, as Trump launched a trade war that included 10% across-the-board tariffs on all goods brought into the U.S. and a 145% tariff on goods from China. Trump paused a raft of even higher tariffs on dozens of countries for 90 days to allow time for countries to petition his Administration directly for relief. The higher tariffs are scheduled to snap into place in July. Trump officials say they are negotiating trade deals with 17 countries, but the trade negotiations with China are stalled.

The on-again-off-again tariff announcements have rattled investors, wiping out trillions in value from stock markets and frustrating business leaders who are struggling to make business decisions without knowing how much goods will cost in the long run.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who appeared with Leavitt in the press briefing room on Tuesday, said Trump’s erratic tariff actions were part of the President’s negotiating strategy to achieve better trade deals and encourage more companies to open factories in the U.S. “President Trump creates what I call strategic uncertainty in the negotiations,” Bessent said.

Bessent acknowledged that some business leaders have pulled back from launching new projects in recent weeks. He said that Trump’s work stripping away federal regulations and a tax bill Republicans hope to pass this summer may include incentives for businesses to buy equipment and build new factories. “Business leaders, they’ve gone into a pause, and I think we are going to give them great certainty on this tax bill,” Bessent said.

Congressional Republicans are hoping to include a raft of tax breaks in the bill they hope to finish by early July. On the campaign trail, Trump promised he would end taxes on tips, overtime, Social Security payments, and auto payments for cars made in the U.S. Bessent said Trump is pushing for companies to be able to deduct the cost of new equipment and factory buildings to encourage more manufacturing in the U.S.

Americans have become more skeptical of Trump’s economic decisions since he took office. A Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted in mid-April found that 37% of Americans approve of Trump’s handling of the economy, down from 42% in late January.